The Authenticity Issue for Herbal Products
Siam Industries International Co. Ltd. Thailand, a US-Thai Amity Company and their Siam Natural Organics premier Thai supplements brand recently unveiled several US FDA-registered health supplements & herbal based cosmetic products for American consumers to buy on line and ship locally from Nevada.
I am pleased to back them fully and can speak for their integrity.
In a world of ever increasing fake everything – like tainted and undocumented ‘black market’ Amazon & eBay supplements & diluted cosmetics, this new brand brings US customers a breath of fresh pure premium grade 100% natural dietary herbal supplements and luxury organic based Envisage Siam Zen formulation cosmetics – all fully documented and licensed by the Thai FDA & Registered with US FDA and US Customs.
In these troubled times of fakery and off-brand bargain basement prices – it’s imperative that consumers have confidence that what they’re purchasing is authentic and manufactured under strict GMP safe & sanitary conditions with the exact contents stated on the labels.
In 2017 retail sales of vitamins & nutritional supplements in the US reached a whopping $36 billion. Many unscrupulous manufacturers have jumped into the supplements arena over the past few decades selling bogus, blended, and fake health supplements then closing their doors and immediately reopening under a different name.
It’s a new kind of crime.
According to former special agent and forensic investigator for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Mr. Gary Collins, MS, who is adamant about hardworking moms and dads trying to do right by their family by buying inexpensive supplements, he went on to say, “Little do they know that these ‘bargain’ vitamins and capsules are worthless at best, and at worst may cost them and their children their health, and possibly their lives”. In a 2013 blog post he wrote,”
“The fact is, it costs money to make quality dietary supplements such as vitamins, protein powders, fish oil capsules, energy bars, herbal blends, or sports nutrition products. But if you have no morals and know how truly under-regulated the supplement industry is in America, you can make huge amounts of money selling dangerous counterfeit and expired supplement products. How? You undercut the price of legitimate supplement companies. Cheaper wins. And the consumer loses. Why should you believe me? For many years, not too long ago, I worked in the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as a Special Agent. I’ve been behind the curtain of the supplement industry – way behind – so what I say is not based on some far-fetched conspiracy theory. I was there and witnessed it firsthand. Now, as a public health advocate and creator of the Primal Power Method, here’s what I want you to know about the vitamins, capsules and pills that can make or break your health.
There are three main ways that supplements end up on the market at unbelievably cheap prices:
They are counterfeit and probably dangerous.
They are useless expired products that have been repackaged as new.
They are stolen products released on the black market without any quality control”.
Industry consumer affairs groups, and now the legal system alike, report major store chains such as GNC, Target, Walmart, Walgreens and others, intentionally or unknowingly, are selling bogus herbal supplements.
In December of 2016 Thai legal representatives investigated a number of Amazon, eBay and other on-line ‘private store’ sellers of undocumented ‘black market’ Thai herbal supplements and notified the legal departments at Amazon and eBay in writing with no response whatsoever. Their legal department(s) seem to just ignore these issues and hide behind answering machines not returning telephone calls or professional representative’s letters.
Apparently greed and total a disregard for humanity prevails because corporate sellers like Amazon, Etsy and eBay seem to choose to turn a blind eye to sales of bogus, black market, undocumented and/or even dangerous supplements by allowing private sellers to continue to hide within their private on-line stores after they have slipped under the radar of US Customs and US FDA.
The Thai legal team spoke up but were met with deaf ears and a stone wall. The big chain stores simply may not be able to identify and verify the authenticity of certain documents or vendor products that have been manufactured illegally or improperly which somehow slipped through the maze of US Customs and FDA Compliance systems. Nevertheless, they are accountable for what they are putting on their shelves for consumers to purchase.
